Prosecutors Say

Zimmerman Hid

Second Passport,

Lied About Money

by Aram Roston Jun 1, 2012 5:55 PM EDT

 

Startling new disclosures in the Trayvon Martin murder case allege that the accused killer and his wife didn’t tell the court about another passport he had, and lied about the amount of money they had access to, reports Aram Roston.

In a packed Florida courtroom in April, George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer surrendered his client’s passport—a gesture to show that Zimmerman would not attempt to flee the country if he were released on bond.

George Zimmerman answers a question during a bond hearing in Sanford, Fla., April 2012 (Gary W. Green / AP Photo)

It now appears that Zimmerman had another passport he didn’t hand over.

According to startling new disclosures by prosecutors in the case (PDF), the state attorney’s office says Zimmerman failed to give the court another valid American passport he had obtained in 2004.

As a result of this and other new information provided to the court on Friday, Judge Kenneth R. Lester of Seminole County Circuit Court made a dramatic reversal, revoking Zimmerman’s $150,000 bond package and ordering him to turn himself in to authorities within 48 hours.

Zimmerman, at the center of one of the most high-profile criminal cases in years, has been living in hiding since the bond hearing, but that freedom may now be over as he will likely head back to jail to await trial on charges that he shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old who was walking home through Zimmerman’s housing complex.

The Feb. 26 shooting, in which Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was released without charges, captivated and divided the country. Zimmerman is half-white, half-Hispanic, and Martin was black. A month and half later, after the appointment of a special prosecutor, Zimmerman was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Prosecutors said Zimmerman got his second passport after claiming he’d lost his original one, which expired at the end of May 2012. It was that original passport which he turned over to the court; the second passport, which is valid until 2014, remained in his possession.

In addition to the passport allegations, prosecutors also disclosed on Friday what the state’s attorney called an elaborate scheme by Zimmerman and his wife, Shelly, to conceal their true financial status from the court.

Zimmerman “intentionally deceived the court with the assistance of his wife,” according to the prosecution’s motion to revoke his bail.

At the April 20 bond hearing, Shelly Zimmerman testified that she knew nothing (PDF) about any funds in a PayPal account George had set up for donations, and said she believed she and her husband had no money to post for bond.

After the bond hearing, Zimmerman was released on $150,000 bond. Bond is typically assured with a payment of ten percent, or $15,000 in this case.

Despite being in jail, prosecutors said, Zimmerman ‘was intimately involved in the deposit and transfer of moneys into various accounts.’ He ‘was directing the show’ from his prison cell.

(A week after the bond hearing, Zimmerman’s lawyer revealed that Zimmerman’s now defunct website had raised over $200,000.)

In reality, prosecutors say, the Zimmermans had access to $135,000.

Further, prosecutors claimed, despite being in jail Zimmerman “was intimately einvolved in the deposit and transfer of monies into various accounts.” He “was directing the show” from his prison cell, according to the motion.

Prosecutors referred to recorded phone conversations between Zimmerman and his wife, which they said were conducted “in code” in order to deceive authorities.

In one call, Zimmerman allegedly asked his wife, “In my account do I have at least $100?”

“No,” she responded, explaining later that he was “$8.60” short.

It is unclear whether this is the code to which prosecutors refer in their motion, but in another excerpt they quote, Zimmerman allegedly told his wife, “You are going to take out $10, and keep it with you in cash. Less then 10.”

His wife allegedly responded, “Like $9.”

Friday’s hearing was originally intended to address the question of whether certain evidence in the case should be sealed, but the allegations that Zimmerman deceived the court on the issue of his funds and his passport quickly took center stage.

Benjamin Crump, lawyer for the Martin family, told The Daily Beast, “In our view this is the most important ruling in the case. It makes everyone focus on George Zimmerman’s credibility, and that is the crux of the matter. The reason his credibility is so important is that it is his version that is the only one that says Trayvon Martin attacked him.”

Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, did not immediately return a call for comment.

__________________________

Bond Revocation

Renews Doubts About

Zimmerman's Credibility

 

George Zimmerman apologizing to Trayvon Martin's parents at his bond hearing.

The clock is ticking for George Zimmerman. A Florida judge ruled to revoke his bond yesterday, and now the accused murderer has less than 48 hours to turn himself in. The most absurd part about it is that he has only himself to blame. Zimmerman and his wife, Shelly, thought they could outsmart the court and got caught. The State’s successful motion to revoke revealed recorded conversations between Zimmerman and his wife concerning a secret passport and a plan to understate their cash. Although Zimmerman produced one passport that expired last month, State Department records showed that he owned a second one that was still valid through 2014. According to the motion to revoke, on April 17 Zimmerman and his wife had the following discussion:

Taken alone, the passport exchange could be considered fairly innocuous. The terms of his bond require that he wear a tracking device at all times and his face is certainly recognizable enough at this point such that it’s unlikely he could escape without being seen. But when the passport exchange is placed beside the couple’s failed financial subterfuge that the picture of a clumsy scheme becomes too much to bear. On April 16 Zimmerman gave his wife access to his account and the couple had the following exchange:

Later that same day they again talked about the financial picture:

 

The above statement clearly indicate that Zimmerman’s wife was aware of how much money they had and encouraged her husband to use it in order get out of jail. On April 19 the couple’s credit union statement registered $135,000. The very next day, however, Shelly gave the following testimony:

And,

One would think they’d know better than to try to deceive the court. After all, the outcome of the trial will ultimately be determined by Zimmerman’s credibility and his state of mind at the time of the murder. At the end of last month, several media organizations submitted motions requesting access to the documents that the prosecution has thus far refused to release. Citing an exception to the state’s rules regarding the public’s access to case information, the state argues that the threat these documents pose to fair administration of justice requires that they remain sealed. It is believed that among these documents are the conflicting statements Zimmerman offered to authorities and that the release of those statements could further imperil Zimmerman’s credibility.

In a way, the Zimmermans are getting off easy. Perjury is committed whenever a person intentionally gives a false statement that is material to a judicial proceeding while under oath. Shelly’s false statements at the April 20 hearing were indeed material therefore she could have very well been charged with perjury.

  The author of six books, Dax has been featured on WNYC, WBAI, MTV.com, Democracy Now, and Pacific Radio. His work on race, youth culture and criminal justice has been cited by The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor. He has lectured on literature and hip-hop culture at Fordham, Pace, City College and NYU. His book, Beat of a Different Drum (Hyperion, 2006), explored the lives of 30 African-American creatives and iconolasts. 

>via: http://www.dominionofnewyork.com/2012/06/02/bond-revocation-renews-doubts-abo....T8rL3Y4-VyF

DICK GREGORY:

Callus On My Soul

A brief documentary glimpse into the extraordinary life and mind of living comedy legend, passionate social activist, world famous nutritionist, and American pioneer, DICK GREGORY. Told through an assortment of interviews and found footage.

Disappearing in a Maze

– A tribute to

Maze featuring

Frankie Beverly

by James Eldon

Posted by SoulCuts

D’Angelo, the J.D. Salinger of soul music, has produced two full albums in 17 years. The mere hint of new tracks at recent performances in Holland and the UK gets the internet twinkling with anticipation. Let’s make a comparison, take Maze featuring Frankie Beverly who between 1977 and 1993 produced 8 studio albums and two absolutely classic live albums, both of which contained 4 new tracks. Productivity vs. brooding artistry?

Let us delve deeper though, for the real sadness is, I feel, not in the indulgent laziness of D’Angelo but in the abrupt and brutal decision by Frankie Beverly not to record new music after Warner Brothers remixed a track from Maze’s final album ‘Back to Basics’ without Beverly’s permission. This principled stand has stood for nearly twenty years, with the exception of one track on ‘The Brothers’ soundtrack album in 2001. The twist in this tale is that Maze are still one of the biggest live acts in soul music and frequently tour with successful artists who are still releasing new material and reaching a new audience. No retirement, no retreat to the Bay Area of San Francisco running a nice little bar, no shift to song writing and production for other artists. Maze, with The Isley Brothers, one of the greatest soul music bands of all time, are still enthralling live audiences nearly twenty years after they made a full studio album.

 

If that brings ‘Happy Feelings’ to quote one of their great jazzy, summer classics then all well and good but for me it feels desperately sad and frustrating. Why? Because Frankie Beverly is one of the best songwriters in soul music and his band possess a unique sound that blasts vitamin D and warmth out of the radio. Not enough? Beverly is also one of the great soul vocalists, a fragile, whispering voice that is somewhere between Curtis Mayfield and Luther Vandross. His voice does not have the range or dexterity of those singers but when placed against the wonderfully individual sound of his band, it weaves a dreamy path through some brilliant songs and grooves.

Famously, Marvin Gaye took Frankie Beverly and his band on tour, suggested a change in name (previously they were The Butlers and Raw Soul) and then facilitated a deal with Capitol records in 1977. Listening to their debut album, the self titled “Maze featuring Frankie Beverly’ is to be drawn immediately into the sunshine soul of the band. No string sections, occasional horns, mainly an organic, live band feel with guitars and keyboard breaks to provide a brilliantly laid back context for Beverly’s voice. The ballads are impassioned, the mid-tempo tunes perfect radio material and the funk is melodic and lacks the overwrought machismo of some of the other funk bands who were successful at the time. This debut album also contains a remake of one of a Raw Soul tune, ‘While I’m Alone’ which is one of the most perfect soul records and should be played during any late summer evening when the sun is dropping and the first chills of Autumn are descending. A guitar led, dancer whose lyric should be sad but whose spirit is deliriously uplifting.

There followed a series of albums that have become iconic in soul music. All combined some legendary dance floor anthems with some wistful and moving ballads and all had that unique Maze sound. In England the band become a cult and the title track of their 1980, fourth album, ‘Joy and Pain’ became the hymn of the soul weekender scene and all night soul parties. The song became a signifier for a certain patronising cliché of the soul music fan, furry dice at the front of a souped up Ford saloon, white socks and an oily slick demeanour. What better anthem for the British soul scene, a scene where hard working people find a release in the transcendent joy of beautiful music? A simple synthesiser melody builds up to a chorus that sums up not only the ups and downs of a long term relationship but the struggles of making enough money to thrive in difficult times. Eerily the song feels like it could have been written for our current recession, the knife edge that separates ‘joy and pain’. Many prefer the 9 minute live version on the classic ‘Live in New Orleans’ double album and it is undoubtedly one of the great live albums and live performances.

Some of the band’s more upbeat funk tunes have dated and although one can still love their exuberance, the repetitious refrains no longer sound as fresh as they once did. Yet I’d implore that we revisit the band’s work for two reasons, firstly the superb song writing that underpins their ballads and mid-tempo tunes and secondly the tragedy of a self-contained band that could thrive in the new world of self-distributed, independent soul retiring from recording.

If you don’t own any Maze work go online and pick up the compilation ‘Greatest Slow Jams’. Don’t be fooled by the title, many of the tracks are just below mid-tempo and some are even soul steppers. All are glorious. From the delicate vulnerability of ‘When You Love Someone’ to the uplifting unity declared in ‘We Are One’. If you’ve never heard a Maze song maybe start with ‘Lovely Inspiration’, it’s simplicity and optimism might fool you into dismissing it as merely a charming love song but it has such energy, wait for the moment when Frankie Beverly bursts forth after the organ and guitar introduction and like a bottle of Californian sparkling wine the track cries out for a summer’s evening with your beloved.

If the collection gives you a taste for the good stuff, my favourite of their albums is ‘Can’t Stop The Love’, their last full studio album for Capitol and consistently strong all the way through. The mid-tempo ‘I Want To Feel That I’m Wanted’ and ‘Magic’ are worth the price of entry alone, both could work on the dance floor but if you’ve got a cabriolet or a mate with one, wait for that rare sign of the sun and go for a drive into the country with them playing. The grooves are laid back but the musicianship, song writing and of course Beverly’s vocal are tightly produced and easy to underestimate such is the overall quality.

Soul music is now a much-loved niche of the musical world and many of our artists produce and distribute their work via the internet to a dedicated audience. The days when even the smallest independent label could add strings and horns to their productions have long gone and a smaller live band feel is now prevalent amongst the best of the emerging online soul stars. What better time for a self-contained group, who never used the sweeteners of strings and horns, to release some new material to their almost obsessive fans and to two new generations of soul fans? The Maze covers album showed just how well the new generation connected with the band’s work. If D’Angelo finally releases album number 3 I’ll raise an eyebrow and wait to see whether it actually contains any songs (or if Raphael Saadiq is involved). Imagine reading the message that revealed there was a new Maze album? Bring in the conciliation services, cease the industrial action, life is short and twenty years is too long to underline the right of an artist to influence their work. Frankie, we agree with you and the very best way of demonstrating your victory is to get back in the studio and simmer up some Maze magic.

---

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with James via Twitter, @jreldon.

Stevie Wonder’s Superstition

clavinet part dissected

Stevie Wonder’s Superstition is definitely one of the funkiest songs on the planet – It was released way back in 1972 on the Talking Book album and climbed up the UK charts quickly. Stevie came up with the song by playing the original funky drum beat that starts the track and humming a melody over the top of it.

Superstition was originally intended for Jeff Beck as a thank you for the guitarist’s help on the awesome Talking Book album (buy CD here, download here), but when Motown heard it they released Wonder’s version as a single.

The song finally got popular in the US when Stevie toured with the Rolling Stones, thereby introducing the Stevie Wonder to a largely white audience, and grabbing Stevie’s first number one hit since 1963.

It’s of course the signature Clavinet part that just oozes the funk – In fact it was Superstition that really put the Hohner Clavinet on the map in funk/soul music. A lot of keyboard players instantly tried to cop the part, but it seemed impossible to play. Even Stevie himself never really played it properly when he played live.

It was later revealed that the Clavinet part actually consisted of two separate parts, panned hard left and right, creating the amazing polyrhythmic funk monster over which the main melody bounces. Stevie was really into synthesizer technology at the time, so the bubbling bass line was also produced by the Clavinet fed through a synthesizer.

Still, getting the Clavinet part EXACTLY right has been elusive for pretty much every keyboard player on the planet, and the exact recorded parts have been somewhat of a mystery.

Until now.

An engineer has acquired the master recordings and has dissected Stevie Wonder’s multitrack masters of the song. Through the use of Protools, he was able to isolate all the tracks to get a listen to the infamous Clavinet parts.   Ready for this? … In reality, it’s actually 8 Clavinet parts!

Pretty interesting.  It sounds like some of the grooviness is created with delays and echoes on the effect tracks.  It would have been nice to hear each part in isolation, and I’ve written to the author to try and get a copy of the sound files. I’ll update this post if I hear back from him, so please subscribe to email alerts to stay up to date.

Here’s a treat:  it’s Stevie Wonder and his band doing a smoking version of Superstition on Sesame street. I love how the one kid in the background is grooving out like crazy and all the other kids are standing there seemingly bored out of their minds.

Superstition has been covered countless times by other bands, most famously by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Beck, but Mel Torme also has a pretty interesting version of it on his Live At The Maisonette album from 1975.

In case you actually want to learn how to play the song, the sheet music is available for free [removed].  We actually did another story a while back about the Beatles & fourier transforms to figure out the parts.  Check it out here if you’re interested.

Here’s Stevie and most of the band actually recording the song:

UPDATE (Jan 6, 2012): We removed a couple of links as they appear bad now.

Call for Papers:

Counter-Cultures in

Contemporary Africa

Volume 8 Number 1

Deadline: 15 August 2012

UCT’s Centre for African Studies and its interdisciplinary postgraduate, peer-reviewed journal, postamble, invite you to submit papers, photographic essays and book reviews that address the formations and expressions of counter- cultures in Africa.

We understand ‘counter-cultures’ as zones of emergent response, constituting a range of practices, representations and performances, produced by varying narratives and realities. We see counter-cultures as movements that may begin in the fringes of normative society and politics, but that gather momentum and begin to rival the status quo in visible and powerful ways. We think of counter-cultures as the catalysts for social, political and cultural action and change.

postamble welcomes graduate submissions that raise questions about counter-cultures in contemporary Africa. We are interested, but not limited to, submissions that engage with the following fields of enquiry:

• Visual and literary cultures and new medias that seek to challenge traditional or inherited forms, themes, approaches and expectations to art, culture and/ or society

• Revolutionary movements: violent and non-violent responses to state power

• The philosophy of change and the idea of the ‘zeitgeist’

• Everyday practices that undermine, subvert and/or challenge existing power structures and discourses

• Patterns of social response that act as catalysts for change

• Visible and invisible forms of protest

• Shifting forms and modes of social habitation, especially in urban areas

• The use (or misuse) of the public archive

• Post-colonial queer culture, rights and spaces

• Changes within religious models, practices and approaches to worship

• Civil and grass-roots movements

• Musical forms and representations

• Advances in alternative sciences and technologies

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 15 August 2012

postamble publishes original graduate research of a high standard. Long papers should be between 5000 and 8000 words, short submissions between1500 and 3000 words; photographic essays –min 5, and maximum 10 photographs and 1000-1200 words. Emailed submission should be addressed to ‘The Managing Editor’, and sent to postamble@gmail.com or cas-postamble@uct.ac.za. Please ensure all submissions contain a short abstract (200 words), biography (50 words), with relevant contact details. For correct formatting, please see Submissions on our website: www.postamble.org

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: postamble@gmail.com

Website: www.postamble.org

via writersafrika.blogspot.com

Second Wind Publishing

Short Story Contest (worldwide)

Deadline: 30 June 2012

Second Wind Publishing invites you to submit an entry to our holiday short story contest.

Entries are to be holiday stories of any genre that mention a food of some kind. (The food item can be a focus of the story or simply a prop.) The winner will be included in Second Helpings, a short story/recipe anthology to be released in time for Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, New Years. So, be thinking of holiday stories with delicious recipes. The story and recipe must be your own original work since the recipe will also be published in the anthology. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. The story must not exist in print form or in any current or upcoming anthology. The story must be no longer than 5,000 words.

The contest is open to anyone in the world, 18 or older, though the entry must be written in English. There is no entry fee. The best entries will be posted on this site for everyone to read and comment. The authors and management of Second Wind Publishing will choose the three finalists, but reader comments will be taken into consideration. Entries will be judged on originality, readability, writing skills, characterization, plot, and how well they fit in with the theme of the anthology. Spelling and grammar count. The decision of the judges is final.

Everyone is welcome to vote for the winner, which is to be chosen from the three finalists. The winner will be the finalist with the most comments.

The winning entry will be published in the upcoming Second Wind anthology, Second Helpings. (Title is subject to change.) The winner will also receive a coupon from Smashwords.com for an unlimited number of free downloads of the anthology for one month. The coupon can be sent to as many people as you wish during that month. The winner will also be able to purchase an unlimited number of print copies of the anthology at half price plus shipping costs. And the winner will receive a one year free VIP account from Angie’s Diary, the online writing magazine to help you get even more exposure for your writing. ($99 value).

All entries will be deleted once the contest is over.

The contest begins April 1, 2012 and ends June 30, 2012.

SCHEDULE:

• June 30, 2012 at 11:59 pm ET: Contest ends.
• July 1 — July 15, 2012: Judging of entries by 2W (and 2W authors) to pick top three entries
• July 15 — July 31, 2012: Judging of the three finalists by blog readers to pick the winner
• August 1, 2012: Winner announced
• October 1, 2012 Book published (In an ideal world …)

Please send your entries as a Word .doc or .docx to secondwindpublishing(at)gmail.com Be sure to replace (at) with @ and use “Holiday Contest” for the subject line.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. By participating in the contest, entrant certifies the entry is original, has not been previously published, and does not contain material that would violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyrights, trademarks or rights or privacy or publicity. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry that it deems unsuitable or ineligible for the contest. The decision of the judges is final and binding.

2. Limit one (1) entry per person and per e-mail address for the duration of the contest. Winners of previous contests held by the sponsor are prohibited from entering again within a one-hundred eighty (180) day period of previous winning submission announcement. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, or inaccurate entries. In the case of a dispute as to the identity of an online entrant, the prize will be awarded to the authorized e-mail account holder.

3. Online entrants must have a valid e-mail address. Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these official rules and by the decisions of the sponsor and judges which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this contest. Winners will be required to sign and return a Short Story Publishing Contract within seven (7) days of winner selection, which will give Second Wind exclusive print and ebook rights for two (2) years. Failure to comply will result in selection of an alternate winner. Acceptance constitutes permission for the sponsor and its agencies to use winner’s name and/or likeness, biographical material and/or entry (including an edited form of the entry) for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation. By accepting prize, winner agrees to hold the sponsor, its affiliates, and anyone associated with the sponsor harmless for any injury or damage caused or claimed to be caused by participation in the promotion or acceptance or use of the prize. Sponsor is not responsible for any printing, typographical, mechanical or other error in the printing of the offer or in the announcement of the prize.

4. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, modify or suspend the contest. Sponsor reserves the right to select winners from eligible entries received as of the termination date. Sponsor further reserves the right to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: secondwindpublishing@gmail.com

Website: http://secondwindpublishing.com/

 

2012 PressPress Chapbook Award

NEW DEADLINE: 30 JULY 2012

Conditions

The PressPress Chapbook Award is for an unpublished chapbook length manuscript of poems. The winning manuscript will receive $500 and chapbook publication with PressPress. The Award will be announced on the PressPress site.

 

Conditions of entry

1. The manuscript should be an original poetry manuscript of chapbook length (ie 20 to 40 pages). It must be unpublished (ie not in a magazine, not a zine, not on a site or any other form of publication) and not on offer to another publisher in Australia or elsewhere (except that individual poems can be already taken or on offer to journals, sites or anthologies where you keep the copyright).

2. The Award will be made to the best overall chapbook received. PressPress reserves the right not to make an award if the standard of submitted entries is insufficient or to split an Award.

3. The Award will be judged by the PressPress Award panel: the decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

4. The Award, $500 (AUD) and publication of the manuscript as a PressPress chapbook, will be announced on the PressPress site. The final content of the winning chapbook will be negotiated with PressPress editors.

5. The author's name and address must be supplied but appear not on the manuscript.

6. Submissions should be made through the submissions manager. Contact PressPress by mail or email if, for some reason, you can’t submit through the submissions manager. (PO Box 94 Berry 2535 Australia or info@presspress.com.au)

Entries must be sent by 30 July 2012 but you can submit any time before then.

8.The administration fee is $18 (AUD) per entry.

Talib Kweli On

ReGENERATION

Activism Documentary

And Being A

'Conscious' Rapper

 

Posted: 06/01/2012 8:46 am 

The labels “political” and “conscious” have been ascribed to rapper Talib Kweli throughout his music career, beginning with his start as a member of Black Star, the underground hip hop duo he founded with Mos Def 15 years ago. While he has enjoyed commercial success -- his latest album "Prisoner of Conscious," released this month, is his sixth solo venture -- Kweli has cultivated a unique hip hop voice grounded in lyricism and political awareness that has distinguished him from his mainstream rap counterparts.

On the heels of his appearance in the film, #ReGENERATION, a recently released documentary that examines apathy and activism among today’s youth, the Huffington Post caught up with Kweli to chat about the “Me” generation; Occupy Wall Street; why he doesn’t vote; whether it’s worth it for young people to go to college, and more. #ReGENERATION, directed by Phillip Montgomery and narrated by Ryan Gosling, screens at Bonnaroo music festival on June 7-10. Information about hosting a free screening in your area is available here.

HuffPost: People talk about the label of “conscious” or “politically conscious” rapper. Do you embrace that term?

Talib Kweli: Being called a conscious rapper is quite a compliment. It’s a great thing to be. But as an artist, my nature is to not be in a box. Once you attach such a limited description of what I do, it shuts off a whole audience of people. I work to make sure that when I’m being described, all of it is being described, as opposed to just one thing I do.

HP: Can you talk a bit about your introduction to hip hop? Early hip hop sometimes questioned the status quo, the way people lived. Do you think music ought to do that?

TK: I think hip hop is a dance music that’s rebellious by nature. I don’t think that early hip hop stood out to be a social critique. A lot of fans of mine think that hip hop’s ultimate responsibility is to critique social structures. Good art paints an accurate picture of what’s going on. But the responsibility of an artist is not to be a politician or have a message. The responsibility of an artist is to be honest with themselves.

HP: I wanted to ask you about [the documentary] Regeneration. It asks an age-old question: can young people make any difference?

TK: I would venture to say that only young people can really make a difference. Even if an old person says something, it takes a young person with the energy to carry it out. The change comes from the student. It comes from the youth. Throughout history it’s not been the old guard, the status quo, who have been clamoring for change.

HP: The film talks a lot about what it calls the “Me” generation. Do you buy that there’s a “Me” generation, or that there’s something specific about our generation that’s more selfish or less politically involved?

TK: I think that this generation wants to help out other people and wants to be involved in the world in a big way. I think you saw that with the Stop Kony thing, where people felt like they could just click a button and automatically become an activist. People want to do that. People want to help. They just don’t know how. They don’t have the tools.

HP: You mentioned earlier about activism and clicking a button. Do you think that this generation is facing the problem of being too polite or too tentative to mix it up in real life?

TK: You can’t just sit at a computer and be an activist. You have to get out there in the streets. I don’t care if you’re on Pinterest, I don’t care if you’re on Tumblr, I don’t care if you’re on Twitter, you have to physically get up there and get your body on the line and put your life on the line to express your thoughts and what you believe.

HP: Today, kids are graduating now with pretty high unemployment rates. Do you think they’ve been told to expect something that’s unrealistic?

TK: One of the greatest tragedies of this generation -- and even worse for my community, for the black community -- is that (for) the generation before us, if you went to college and you worked hard, you could almost be guaranteed a decent job with a 401(k). Even if it wasn’t your dream job, you could carve out a living for yourself. That doesn’t exist anymore.

Now what you have is a system where people are going into debt for the rest of their lives with this dream that going to college is going to change their lives. So if parents are telling kids, “You have to go to college” without telling them why they have to go to college … you’re really crippling them for the future.

HP: In the film you talk about telling your kids they can be anything they want to be. Do you change what you tell them now that they’re facing a future where there aren’t as many jobs, or the same security?

TK: I think it’s actually easier nowadays to tell your children you could be whatever they want. You know, the idea that you could tell a child, say 5, 10 years ago, that you don’t necessarily have to go to college to be a success, that would sound crazy. But that’s the truth about today’s generation.

It’s just like voting: if you just go to college and you don’t know why you’re going and spending your money, it makes no sense to end up in debt and not know why you did it -– just like it makes no sense to vote without knowing who or what you’re voting for.

HP: I’ve read somewhere that you don’t vote. How do you see the role of a citizen?

TK: Citizenship is participation. I’m someone who has placed myself directly at the center and at the heart of things that are going on in my community. As I get older my stance on voting has shifted from saying “I refuse to participate” to “How can we participate in a way that’s smarter and conducive to our community?” We have to raise candidates that are worthy of our vote.

HP: You visited Occupy Wall Street in the fall … Do you think young people are becoming more involved because of things like Occupy Wall Street?

TK: Yeah. I’m proud of this generation for bringing protesting back. Protesting is something that I had a romantic notion of until I was 15 and I went to protest the Gulf War and no one was there. I felt like in my lifetime I wouldn’t see this type of protest movement. I think technology is a big part of it. And I’m happy to see it.

HP: Are you hopeful about the future?

TK: Yeah, I’m an artist. I can’t afford not to be. All artists, even the ones who claim they are not, are ultimately optimists. Or else you wouldn’t be making art. What would be the point?

New Orleans Women’s Clinic

Becomes Latest Target

Of Arson Attacks

 

By Annie-Rose Strasser on May 29, 2012 at 11:00 am

 

A photo of the damage

A New Orleans women’s health organization was destroyed last week by an unknown arsonist, becoming the latest target of attacks on women’s health clinics in the south.

The organization, Women With A Vision, was likely singled out because it offers AIDS prevention help, HIV testing, and substance abuse assistance to sex workers, transgender women, poor women, and women of color. The clinic also does community outreach and education on those issues. Like two incidents in Georgia last week, no one was injured in the fire, but the clinic lost a good share of its resources.

The fire burned female and male condoms, HIV education posters, and suits donated for women to wear to job interviews. In a letter on their website, the group discusses the losses, and calls for donations from anyone who can help:

Thanks to the fast response of all of our supporters across the country, many of you have already heard that our office was broken into last night and set on fire. The worst damage was concentrated in our community organizing and outreach office where we store all of the resources we use to educate our community. We lost everything. We do not have an office to operate out of right now. Most of our office equipment and all of our educational resources were destroyed. Because of the targeted nature, we can only assume that this was intentional.

We are shaken to be sure, and deeply worried about how we will provide for our members while we are rebuilding. But the work will continue. This cannot and will not stop us from speaking out for people who do not have a voice.

Watch the director’s reaction to the fire:

Women’s health clinics in Georgia have been on heightened alert since the attacks there, and the FBI is investigating those fires. The New Orleans fire department is still looking into the fires at Women With A Vision, but witnesses reported seeing a man run from the building where the fire was set.

Black Women’s Transitions

to Natural Hair

Transition: The filmmaker Zina Saro-Wiwa presents an Op-Doc on black women’s decision to embrace their naturally kinky hair, rather than use chemical straighteners.

By ZINA SARO-WIWA

Published: May 31, 2012

 

When I set out to make a documentary about black women who are “transitioning” — cutting off their chemically straightened hair and embracing their natural kinky afro texture — I had no intention of appearing in the film. I felt I was an objective observer and really just wanted to highlight a growing movement. (Of the 50 or so women I struck up conversations with randomly on the street, the vast majority had gone natural within the last three years. According to one industry study, sales of chemical straightening kits, which can be harmful, reportedly dropped by 17 percent between 2006 and 2011.) But including my own story forced me to examine how I felt about my hair with more honesty than ever before.

 

There are as many “natural hair journeys” as there are transitioning women. What I find remarkable about the movement is the way it is spreading through black women in America. Many are transitioning silently, without much fanfare. Some are inspired by friends and family members who have already made the switch. As Anu Prestonia, the owner of Khamit Kinks, a natural hair salon in Brooklyn, told me, “There’s been an evolutionary process that has turned into a revolution.” It is not an angry movement. Women aren’t saying their motivation is to combat Eurocentric ideals of beauty. Rather, this is a movement characterized by self-discovery and health.

But black hair and the black body generally have long been a site of political contest in American history and in the American imagination. Against this backdrop, the transition movement has a political dimension — whether transitioners themselves believe it or not. Demonstrating this level of self-acceptance represents a powerful evolution in black political expression. If racial politics has led to an internalization of self-loathing, then true transformation will come internally, too. It will not be a performative act. Saying it loud: “I’m black and I’m proud” is one thing. Believing it quietly is another. So the transition movement is much more profound and much more powerful — and I believe it offers lessons in self-acceptance for people of all hues and all genders.

 

Zina Saro-Wiwa is a documentary maker and video artist.  Her work includes the documentary “This Is My Africa,” which was broadcast on HBO.    She is British-Nigerian and lives in Brooklyn.

__________________________

Five Steps to the

Emotional Side

of Going Natural

__________________________

Black Women's Natural Hair

Inspired Photographer

Glenford Nunez To Shoot

'The Coiffure Project'

Every historic moment needs its recorder. The natural hair revolution now has the stunning photos of Glenford Nunez.

Nunez, the 25-year-old Baltimore-based founder of TYP Photography Studio, is the man behind "The Coiffure Project," a collection of portraits celebrating the beauty of black women and their magnificent natural hair.

Shot in both black-and-white and color, Nunez's work is simple yet striking -- and to think the project only started by accident.

Looking at the extensive collection of pictures he'd taken of his natural-haired assistant one day, Nunez decided to run with the idea of photographing curly maned black women.

Sounds like a brilliant idea when you consider the current trend toward natural hair.The New York Times has covered the movement, countless YouTube tutorials provide tips, and celebs like Solange Knowles and Viola Davis have become official and unofficial poster women for au naturel awesomeness.

Surprisingly, Nunez wasn't hip to the growing number of black women embracing their curly manes -- but he's a guy, so we'll give him some slack.

"I had no idea until I started putting the photos together," Nunez told The Huffington Post. "People have thanked me for what I'm doing for natural hair and black women, but I genuinely had no idea. It's a super awesome feeling though."

So far Nunez has captured the bountiful beauty of 10 subjects and is on the lookout for more curly coiffed ladies to photograph.

"I find women just walking down the street, and I use models I've worked with in the past," he said. "There's always a certain essence and style I'm drawn to."

Anyone who has second-guessed going natural -- whether by slow transition or big chop -- will definitely find reassurance, excitement and plenty of inspiration when looking at these beautiful images.

While the portraits currently reside on Nunez's website, he hopes to turn them into a coffee table book in the near future. Yet another gorgeous volume we'll place on our must-have list.

"Now that I know about the movement," said Nunez, "I'm hoping this project will really bring the beauty of natural hair to the forefront."

Here's a look at "The Coiffure Project" thus far. What do you think?

“The Coiffure Project” By Glenford Nunez

Glenford Nunez/TYP Photography